Mount Eden Prisons
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Mount Eden Prisons refer to the three New Zealand prisons, located in Lauder Road in the Central Auckland suburb of the same name. The three prisons are:
- Mount Eden Prison, capacity 421, medium-security men's prison
- Mount Eden Women's Prison, capacity 54, female remand and short-term sentences prison
- Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP), capacity 381, male remand prison
The three sections are housed in connected, but architecturally strongly dissimilar buildings.
[edit] History
The original prison was a military stockade built in 1856. It became the city's main prison when the old city gaol (corner of Queen and Victoria streets) was demolished in the same year.
The stone wall and the foundations were completed in 1872, the building proper was commenced in 1882 and finished in 1917. Intended to house 220 prisoners, it was designed by P.F.M Burrows and resembles Dartmoor Prison in England. It consists of a radial design with a number of wings radiating out from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. This allows for control from the centre "from which the outlook may be complete and constant". This is obviously an application of the panopticon prison design theories of Jeremy Bentham. The exterior of the old prison has been given a 'Category B' classification by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Opened in July 2000, the ACRP part of Mount Eden Prisons was New Zealand's first privately run prison. It was originally managed by Australasian Correctional Management Limited (later called Global Expertise in Outsourcing NZ Ltd), before reverting to the state's Public Prisons Service in July 2005.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Mt Eden Prison
- Mt Eden Women's Prison
- Auckland Central Remand Prison
- New Zealand History Places Trust
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